Friday, April 30, 2010

While Members of Congress Voice Opposition to Trading of Movie Box-Office Futures following the CFTC approval of initial proposals from both Media Derivatives, part of Scottsdale, Arizona-based Veriana Ventures, and Cantor Fitzgerald's Cantor Exchange unit, Katie Couric has opined.

Movies are like kernels of corn, some of them pop bigbut a lot of them end up duds at the bottom of the bag.

But Wall Street trading firm Cantor Fitzgerald is one of two companies planning to open futures markets for movie releases, betting on potential blockbusters like Avatar, and box office busts like Gigli.

Investors would try to make money by guessing how much a film would earn during its first month at the box office.

The idea could help Hollywood studios spread around the risk in case they get stuck with a flop and for an investor with a keen eye it could really pay off.

Before you tap what's left of your 401k though, you should know futures contracts come with a lot of risk. A bet on that new romantic comedy could easily turn into your own personal horror show.

But unlike the folks who spent ten bucks on Speed 2 Cruise Control, there's at least a possibility of a return.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

In a Wall St Journal Op-Ed WSJ today, Gary Gensler CFTC chairman: addresses how OTC Derivatives should be routed through a central clearinghouse.
Not being cleared in a central location cause markets to be "too interconnected to fail. This part of the reform bill will greatly reduce interconnectedness and the need for future bailouts," Gensler writes. Read WSJ Op-Ed. JOB Opportunitiesfor Compliance Officers:
-who understand structured/securitized products and derivatives.
-have worked with and directed IT to develop Sales and Trading exception reports from development through implementation.

There is an excellent opportunity that was just added to the Rosenthal Recruiting Job Board: Job Title is Equity, Derivatives, Fixed Income - Surveillance Officer and this job listing can be viewed now.

Another current listing calls for a Senior Futures Compliance Officer - see job description. The role will be responsible for the administration of a comprehensive futures compliance program for Institutional Securities, including coverage of both sales and proprietary futures trading.
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Meanwhile you can read how Investigators and Congress are taking a closer look at Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs), embedded in the SEC case against Goldman. A SIFMA analysis shows that synthetic CDOs made up a little more than 10% of the market in 2007, with cash-bond CDOs making up the rest. Market insiders are delving deeper into the complex transaction to calculate potential legal costs. Media reports today on Washington and Bank analysts looking to determine whether other banks, beyond Goldman, might face legal action, exposing them to potential liabilities. NYT article "Questions for Banks That Put Together Deals."

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Meet wanna-be homeowners, mortgage originators, The enablers. AKA the rating agencies...this is courtesy of Courtney Comstock, a writer at Clusterstock.

SEC case against Goldman and Fabrice Tourre* has a spotlight back on the mortgage crisis. Tourre allegedly packaged CDOs filled with very risky mortgage bonds and then marketed them to investors by telling them that Paulson was long. He wasn't. Michael Lewis's book, "The Big Short", explains very well what happened during the crisis - who was long, who was short, and how they did it.

Friday, April 16, 2010

In his weekly address, Obama called Senate McConnell’s mantra that the financial regulatory reform bill would amount to a bailout bill a “cynical and deceptive” argument. Obama said he will veto a financial regulatory reform bill that does not regulate the derivatives market properly. See More.

Summary is from RawStory.com Asked by the Boston Globe how he'd like to see the bill improved, Ted Kennedy's replacement in the Senate doesn't appear to know what it was he wanted changed though is against an extra layer of regulation.

Boston Globe wrote that Sen. Brown appeared to oppose the creation of a consumer protection agency within the Federal Reserve. 'It's more government, it's more government regulation at a time when businesses are trying just to pay their bills,' he said. 'Is that good? . . . If it's an area we need to fix, then I'm certainly open to it. But I haven't heard that that's the biggest thing that's problematic with it.'"

Bloggers immediately jumped down Brown's throat, pointing out that he received a veritable truckload of cash from the financial services industry just before his election.

ThinkProgress, the blog of the Center for American Progress, noted that their analysis found that Brown received $200,000 in campaign donations from Wall Street and business executives. $106,000 came from Wall Street executives alone. Chamber of Commerce, a Republican-oriented trade group, also spent $1 million on issue ads supporting Brown in the final days of his campaign, ThinkProgress noted.

In picture above from left, Senators John Ensign, Republican from Nevada, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, and Tom Carper, a Democrat from Delaware, chatted on Capitol Hill on April 15, 2010. (Associated Press)

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

President Obama met with Democratic and Republican leaders from Congress to discuss passing an overhaul of financial regulation. House passed its version of regulatory reform, and the Senate banking committee approved its bill. Republican opposition to the legislation has caused it to stagnate in the full Senate as reported by Reuters and AP.

-What are the differences between a traditional hedge fund, a registered hedge fund and a mutual fund?
-Converting an existing traditional hedge fund to a mutual fund.
-Starting a mutual fund from scratch.
-Things to watch out for the hedge fund CCO who is now a mutual fund CCO. Presented by: Philip Thomas, Garrity, Graham, Murphy, Garofalo & Flinn.

Each speaker will provide a presentation followed by a joint Q&A period at the end of the session, moderated by Philip Thomas, Banking and Financial Services, Garrity Graham

The sound of the webinar will be broadcast over your pc speakers, you will only need to dial into the teleconference if you do not have sound on your pc. Questions will be submitted through online chat.

If you are unable to attend the live session, a recording will be made available after the event.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

The first to testify to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC), was former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan who defended the central bank's record on consumer protection. Phil Angelides, who is chairman of the panel, asked Greenspan. "You could've, you should've and you didn't" do enough to regulate. More from WSJ (via The Australian) in piece titled "Greenspan, panel spar over Fed's role in financial crisis."

Could Greenspan or anyone have achieved becoming a Super Regulator? Could anyone? Is that what is needed? A Regulator Daredevil to keep up with producers and bankers? Will the Oversight Panel now proposed be approved by the Senate? What about a new US Systemic Risk Regulator ?

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Have you seen ads to Stop the CFPA? It is appearing today at this Compliance and Financial Blog.

Click on the Advertisement and then you go to stopthecfpa.com, a nicely put together website credited to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Includes various videos, news links which include these articles: CFPA: Duplication, Not Consolidation: The CFPA will subject the vast majority of businesses to two separate—and entirely overlapping—layers...CFPA: Adding to Conflict and Inconsistencies...Don’t overthink fiscal oversight (29 Mar 2010)- The Denver Post

SR Note: Nice to have well-financed, targeted ads on this Blog. The CFPA ad rotates with TD Bank Mortgage ads, where you can click to enter a contest to win $25,000 and other non-image plain link ads. You may need to refresh the screen to see any particular ad.